Kawartha

The Kawartha lakes formed part of a natural chain of waterways across central Ontario. Indigenous travellers had used these waters long before French exploration. In 1615 Samuel de Champlain travelled through the wider Trent–Severn route with Wendat allies on an expedition towards the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Lakes and portages joined the interior to routes reaching the Great Lakes.

During the early nineteenth century, incoming settlers sought improvements that would carry goods towards southern markets. In 1833 the legislature of Upper Canada authorised work on the Newcastle District waterways, beginning with a wooden lock at Bobcaygeon in the Kawarthas. Further funding followed in 1836 for a route linking Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe. The project aimed to encourage agriculture, lumbering and commerce, adding engineered passages to an older Indigenous travel landscape.